Along The Road

Along the Road is the place to look for information about current and upcoming activities, developments, trends, and items of general interest to the highway community. This information comes from U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) sources unless otherwise indicated. Your suggestions and input are welcome. Let's meet along the road.

Management and Administration

Federal Highway
Administrator Victor Mendez recently joined the Joint Business Council of the
Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho to break ground on Wyoming's $18.8
million reconstruction of 17 Mile Road. The project will make significant
safety improvements to the roadway, which has the highest fatality rate in the
State.

The improvements to 17 Mile Road, which is currently a paved
wagon trail, will be made with the help of $8.2 million in 2011 Transportation
Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) funds, $10.2 million from the
State, and $430,000 from the tribes. The project will include widening the
lanes and shoulders and incorporating rumble strips and guardrails.

"Seventeen Mile Road is a route of vital importance to the
Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes, who need a safe and efficient
route to travel through the region," Administrator Mendez said at the
groundbreaking. The road serves as the main route for tribal residents
traveling to commercial services and health care centers in Riverton, WY.

FHWA Administrator Victor Mendez (right) greets a member of the Wind River Indian Reservation's transportation staff at the groundbreaking for 17 Mile Road.

Asset Management Expert Group Established

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) established an
expert task group to identify strategies to advance the practice of
transportation asset management. Liaisons to the group include representatives
from FHWA; State departments of transportation (DOTs); the American Association
of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO); the Transportation
Research Board (TRB); the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia; the
Alberta, Canada, Ministry of Transportation; and consulting firms.

Although States have varying levels of experience in
implementing asset management programs, they all face some common issues. For
example, DOTs face increased demand to make performance-based management
decisions that consider risk and long-term financial consequences. The expert
task group will serve as a hub for information exchange, bringing together
ideas from Federal and State agencies, the international asset management
community, and the private sector.

Among other initiatives, the group will outline a framework for
financially sustainable transportation infrastructure that clarifies
connections among asset management, stewardship, risk management, performance
management, and long-term financial planning. The group also will identify
strategies for advancing asset management practices and influencing change
within State transportation agencies, and provide input to FHWA, AASHTO, and
TRB regarding implementing State and local asset management plans.

Other identified needs include exploring national performance
metrics and data issues, fostering the development of related tools and
templates, and discussing practices and process changes that will enable
agencies to manage their assets more effectively.

Administrator Mendez Opens Gateway Project

Federal Highway
Administrator Victor Mendez recently joined Michigan Lieutenant Governor Brian
Calley and other State and local officials at the opening of Detroit's Gateway
Project, a series of freeway ramps designed to relieve severe traffic
congestion to and from the nearby Ambassador Bridge. The new access and outlet
ramps between I–75, I–96, and the Ambassador Bridge -- the most heavily
traveled international border crossing between the United States and Canada -- are
expected to remove an estimated 10,000 vehicles from local side streets.

Work on the $258 million
project, which was made possible through an investment of $202 million in
Federal funding, began in 2007. In addition to improving traffic flow on
streets throughout southwestern Detroit, the project will offer improved access
to a pedestrian bridge and an international welcome center. Eliminating this
major traffic chokepoint in the neighborhood will improve safety and enhance
livability in nearby communities.

Technical News

New Study of Safety EdgeSM Underway

Researchers at FHWA are conducting a study to determine
the crash modification factor (CMF) of Safety EdgeSM, a sloped, 30-degree pavement
edge designed to minimize dropoff-related crashes by making it easier for
drivers to safely reenter the roadway after inadvertently driving off the
pavement. The research aims to provide a better understanding of potential
crash reductions and greater justification for widespread implementation of
this countermeasure to improve safety. CMFs help highway safety engineers and
transportation researchers estimate the safety effectiveness of various
countermeasures. Further, they provide information used in analyzing benefits
and costs and can help highway designers select appropriate treatments to
improve safety.

After conducting a 3-year study of Safety Edge, researchers
found that for two-lane highways in Georgia and Indiana the treatment could
reduce crashes by about 5.7 percent. Installing the Safety Edge involves
minimal time and cost when applied during paving. It uses a commercially
available shoe that attaches to existing equipment in just a few minutes. When
constructing a 1.5-inch (3.8-centimeter) asphalt overlay, less than
1 percent of additional asphalt is needed to create the slope. The study
determined that the theoretical cost per mile for application on both sides of
the road is approximately $536 for a 1.5-inch (3.8-centimeter) treatment depth
and $2,145 for a 3.0-inch (7.6-centimeter) depth. Researchers studied a variety
of roadway sections and calculated positive benefit-cost ratios ranging from 4
to 63.

FHWA's Every Day Counts
initiative -- which aims to identify and deploy innovations that can shorten
project delivery, enhance roadway safety, and protect the environment -- is
working to raise awareness and encourage implementation of Safety Edge
technology across the country. Demonstration projects have led most State DOTs
to adopt the Safety Edge, increasing the sample size available for the CMF
study and therefore the reliability of the resulting factor. Three new projects
constructed in 2012 also will be included in the study, providing
before-and-after measurements of the edge conditions.

Researchers expect to publish the final CMF report in 2017,
enabling the collection of more data for recent projects. Over the next 3 years
FHWA will receive interim CMF calculations as crash data become available. The
researchers hope that the CMFs will provide highway agencies the information
needed to expand the use of Safety Edge to more types of roadways.

Chris Wagner,
a pavement
and materials
engineer with
FHWA's Resource
Center, prepares
to measure the
height of a Safety
Edge treatment
installed
on a road in
North Carolina.

Public Information and Information Exchange

Colorado's I–70 Glenwood Canyon Team Celebrates 20 Years

On October 14, 2012, I–70 through Colorado's Glenwood
Canyon celebrated its 20th anniversary. The stretch of interstate
often referred to as a "modern engineering marvel" took 13 years and nearly
$500 million to construct -- and still, the elevated highway sculpted through the
12.5-mile (20-kilometer) Colorado River gorge remains a vital transportation
corridor and an important link to world-class recreational areas.

In the planning stages, a citizen's advisory group greatly
influenced the design of the project, calling for an approach that would "tread
lightly" in the canyon. State-of-the-art techniques were used for rock
excavation, traffic handling, and revegetation. Engineers ultimately
constructed two roadways -- one elevated -- greatly reducing the impacts, both
environmental and aesthetic. The project received the 1993 Outstanding Civil
Engineering Achievement award from the American Society of Civil Engineers, as
well as more than 30 other awards and recognitions.

To celebrate 20 years, some 50 project engineers,
consultants, designers, and others gathered at the historic Hotel Colorado in
Glenwood for an evening of reminiscing and a day of cycling along the canyon
bike path they constructed.

"Like me, many cut their engineering teeth on this project,"
says Joe Elsen, a program engineer with the
Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), who at 22 had just begun working
with the department as a surveyor. "And for many of us, this remains the
project of our careers."

PBIC's Walk Friendly
Communities program, supported by FHWA and other partners, provides guidance to
help communities encourage residents to leave their cars at home and walk
instead. The Walk Friendly designation recognizes cities and towns for their
demonstrated commitment to improving and sustaining walkability and pedestrian
safety through comprehensive programs, plans, and policies. The newest
additions join 24 other communities previously honored. Communities are
designated at the platinum, gold, silver, or bronze level; only Seattle, WA,
has achieved platinum, indicating high-level achievements in all areas of
pedestrian programs.

Communities can apply for designation through a comprehensive
Web-based assessment tool that evaluates walkability and pedestrian safety
through questions related to engineering, education, encouragement,
enforcement, evaluation, and planning. The questions are intended to both
evaluate conditions for walking and provide communities with feedback and ideas
for promoting pedestrian safety and activity.

Colorado's I-70 through Glenwood Canyon, shown here,
required state-of-the-art construction techniques. About
50 people involved in the development and construction
recently gathered for a reunion to celebrate the 20th anniversary
of the road's opening to traffic.